


I've Got a Question For You

by inadistantworld



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Archery, Bets & Wagers, Established Relationship, F/M, Mirroring Scenes, Mutual Pining, Retirement, Time Skips, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-10-10 08:18:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17422265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inadistantworld/pseuds/inadistantworld
Summary: Before they got together Vex gave Percy an archery lesson. After they were wildly in love with one another she challenges him to a little competition, the winner gets to ask the other a question.





	1. The Beating of Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> You know what I really love? Scenes where two people are pining real hard for one another and one of them teaches the other how to do something and gets real close and everyone in the world can tell it's just an excuse to be closer to each other. There are few tropes I love more than I’m-using-my-expertise-on-this-physical-activity-to-get-closer-to-you-but-I’m-still-afraid-to-tell-you-I-love-you. I also love when we revisit similar scenes at pivotal moments in relationships.  
> I don't know anything about archery and I've been watching a lot of anime recently, so forgive my technical faults.
> 
> She was an artist, he was a gunslinger. Can I make it anymore obvious?

It was no secret that Percy was a good shot. Percy was good at many things, though. He’d been trained as a little lordling to dance, to play the piano and the violin, to ride horses, sword fighting, and just about everything else his family believed to be important skills for a lord. He of course took to some things more than others, sciences, languages, and what some of his family saw as the less practical things for his position, but to be fair he had plenty of family to take on the other aspects of ruling over Whitestone. Archery was quite low on his list of interests.

It wasn’t until his Pepperbox that he took up shooting again, with a determination to become good at it that he’d never shown with bows and arrows. And he became very good, he had no other option than to become good. And when he met the rest of Vox Machina he only became better, after all he was then responsible for not only his own small life but the lives of those so much greater than he was.

It was Vex who stood out to him the most in those thoughts. Vex, his partner in ranged, almost normal attacks, Vex who was just as breakable as he was compared to the others.

Vex who was beautiful. Who was kind. Who was perhaps the target of one of the guiltiest pleasures Percy had ever indulged in, love.

 

There were not many who would argue against Vex being a better shot. It wasn’t that Percy was bad, in fact he had an uncanny knack for hitting the perfect spot on their enemies and more often than not he was doing bigger damage to foes than Vex was. That was not the reason almost everyone, Percy especially, considered her the better of the two.

To Vex archery was an art. She’d been practicing with religious focus since she was child and it was obvious that her belief was in a perfect shot makes an accurate shot. That hitting your mark was simply the result of a good shot. And where Percy made it look like a science, like a calculation, Vex made it look like breathing, like the bow was part of her own flesh.

Vex had taken up archery out of rebellion when her father turned his nose up at it, she had perfected it out of love for it, and now it had become her greatest tool in proving her worth to those who doubted her and protecting those she cared for.

She had come to feel a different kind of kinship with Percy over their weapon choices, they often stood closer to each other than anyone else in a fight, they both wore light armor and went down easily, and well…after a good fight when Percy was sporting a bloody lip, his hair was mussed, dark smudges had been rubbed onto his cheeks and clothes, and he had that fresh, lively glint in his eye that came from victory…he was easily the hottest member of the group. Not that she ever planned to tell anyone. Especially when simply admiring his good looks turned into…something more.

 

They were two good shots, just of a different nature, and while Percy would rather never show Vex how his terrible weapons worked, he had voiced his interest in relearning how to use a bow. And in on of their rare moments of peace when they were taking a long weekend to recover in Whitestone Vex found him in his library and told him to join her for some archery practice in the woods.

Percy had been unable to tell Vex no since he met her, not because she pressured him into it but because he simply had never desired to turn her down.

So he followed her out into the woods. She found some thick, sturdy trees to mark as targets and without hesitation she handed him her bow. Percy had remembered how protective Julius had been of his and he had seen how Vex had cared for this bow.

Percy tried desperately not to read into it.

In a vain attempt to focus on anything but the way his heart pulled him to Vex, he took the bow and some of the arrows she offered him. He stuck the arrows into the ground since he had no quiver, looked to the target, nocked a single arrow, and drew.

Before he could release he felt her fingers on his forearm. “I thought you’d shot before,” she said with a light tease in her voice.

“Well it has been quite a while.” Percy didn’t take offense, it was hard to take Vex’s jabs seriously, especially when she said it with such a charming smile. Especially when she was standing so close to him and he could feel the sparks where her fingers ran over him.

She lifted his arm slightly, her foot tapped his in the obvious signal to make him reposition himself, she touched his shoulder to guide him into a better position. Then she took her place behind him, leaned in so close he could feel her breath on the nape of his neck while she looked down the arrow to check his aim. She adjusted his arm again and pressed the palm of her hand to the small of his back.

Then she moved back to his front. She was looking down at the target but she was nearly pressed against him and her hand was flat against his chest over his heart. “Breathe deeply,” she commanded softy.

She lingered a moment longer than necessary, and though he chalked it up to his imagination she felt a weight in her chest that neared panic at the idea of him having seen through her. So she pulled her hand back, stepped away from him, and said, “Fire.”

They practiced until Percy’s draws were strained and his brow furrowed in frustration, and then they practiced a little longer because he refused to give in quite yet. And perhaps Vex’s hands were on him a little more than necessary and perhaps there were a few moments where Percy purposefully put himself out of position so that Vex would have to guide him back to the right one, but who could say? They were alone in the woods on a crisp fall morning, if they craved the other’s touch a little more, if their eyes met and flicked away more often than a pair of friends, if their smiles held some kind of secret, these things were theirs alone.

“Last one,” Percy promised with a smile.

“You said that last time,” Vex arched an eyebrow but didn’t stop him as he nocked another arrow.

“Yes, well I am a notorious liar and perfectionist,” his eyes had a mischievous glint to them that Vex had always found hard to resist.

She stepped close again, closer this time than earlier, and touched his chest again. She wanted to say it was because she wanted to make sure he was standing right, breathing right, to make sure he was at his best, she knew the cold hard truth. She liked how it felt. She liked that she could feel the lean muscle under his shirt, the quick beating of his heart, the rise and fall of his chest under her hand. She liked how he felt, there was not much more reason to it than that.

“Last one.” She looked down the arrow with him, fixed his grip and position once more.

Percy looked away from the target, just for a moment, just to look at her one last time. Before his excuse was no longer believable. And while she gently bemoaned his archery abilities and how she thought he was a quicker learner (he would have been if his tutor hadn’t been so beautiful and so kind and so good and so…out of the realm of possibility) he just looked at her. The bright feathers in her hair, the flush of her cheeks from the cold, the curve of her mouth, the focused look in her eyes. He almost said something then. He wasn’t sure what, but something. He didn’t though. He was not the monster he used to be but…well Vex deserved so much more than a not-monster and he wasn’t there yet.

“Make it count, darling,” she said and, because she was feeling brave on this cold day and because she had done it to so many friends before that it wouldn’t draw too much attention, she kissed his cheek before she stepped away from him to let him take the shot.

On the way home he rolled his shoulders and rubbed at his arms while Vex looked on with a smug grin. “You are much stronger than I believe we give you credit for,” he said while he tried to wring the fresh soreness out of his body.

“You’re absolutely correct there,” she had to become strong, she drew her bow countless times in battle with pinpoint accuracy, she had no other option than to become strong. She refused to fail her family in the moment. She would not run out of steam when they needed her most, she would not be limited by weak arms and a lack of willpower.

“I seem to have forgotten how difficult it is to do this. I think perhaps I’ll stick to my guns,” he gave her a gentle smile (he had given her his heart long ago), “Thank you for today though. I have a few ideas now for gifts I think you’ll like.”

He can practically see Vex’s excitement vibrating in the air around her and she smiled and moved closer to Percy so that her shoulder bumped against his as they walked, “Care to share your brilliant mind with me?”

He looked over at her, a smirk touching his lips, and he simply said, “Isn’t it better to wait for your surprises?”

 

Vex’ahlia’s cheek was on her lover’s chest, her hand resting over his heart. She had never grown tired of feeling his heartbeat under her hand. She particularly enjoyed feeling it race, which was easy for her to accomplish. She could rile him up so easily and he only ever asked for her to do it again. His heart was entirely hers and they both knew it.

She sat up quickly, her hand still pressed against his chest, and smiled down at him with a glint that always made him eager to see where her mind was taking them. “Make a bet with me.”

He laughed and dropped his head back against the pillows, “I could just give you what you want instead of losing to you like we both know I will.”

“That’s not nearly as fun and you know it.” She leaned down to kiss him, and she almost forgot her idea and just stayed there with him, falling back into him and staying in bed with him as long as they could. But she could feel his heart began to pound with such a simple kiss and she wanted more from him. So, she sat back up and waited for him to give her the answer they both knew he would.

“What’s the bet?”

“If I win you have to answer a question for me,” she said like it was only a game but she could see the wheels in his mind turning, trying to figure it out.

“And if I win?” He placed his hand over hers, his fingers, rough with callouses that mirrored hers covering her hand.

“What would you like?”

He felt his heart skip a beat in his chest and she felt it speeding up under her hand. The question struck a cord in him, something he had been wanting for a while now. It was silly to ask for it on a whim like this, utterly ridiculous to put it on a bet like this, but…their relationship was built on moments of reckless decisions based on love. “You have to answer my question,” he countered with a smile.

She bit her lip, already wanting to ask what it was but knowing he would just tell her it would be better to wait. And he always said it with such a smug smile, that lord in him coming out to play, and as much as she loved seeing him like that with everyone else she had no intention of letting him get that satisfaction on riling her up. That was what she was supposed to do to him.

She knew he would tell her anyways, even after he lost to her. It was a matter of patience, something she had needed to perfect as an archer. Still, it was a bet she needed to win, so it wasn’t exactly fair. And maybe part of it was that she didn’t like to lose. And she knew Percy didn’t like to admit defeat. His ego was still bigger than most of the nobles she had met. And still he chose to bow to her when she asked.

“Darling, how do you feel about archery?”

Percy knew where she was going, but he smiled and played dumb because he simply liked to compliment her. “I feel like you are one of the best archers in Tal’Dorei, but that’s no secret.”

“Flattery, Percival?” she quirked an eyebrow at him, her lips turned up into a smile.

“I would do it less often if you were less deserving of it.”

Her smile was blinding and the light in her eyes stole the very breath from his lungs and when she laughed he felt like everything in his life had taken him to this simple, quiet moment with her. “You’re in rare form tonight, but I’m afraid that won’t be enough to change my mind. Didn’t you say you had practiced since last time. I’ll even go easy on you if that’s what you want,” even as she said it she knew he wouldn’t want her to.

“I’d rather lose to you at your best than lose to you when you’re pretending to give me a fair chance,” he sat up with her and just took her in. “You could just ask me what you want to.”

“I could,” she admitted, “but I really do love how much you want to win.”

He liked it too. The competition. Vex didn’t like to give up, he didn’t like to lose, and sometimes it pushed them to their limits and made them better. Sometimes it was just fun. It seemed that Vex was interested in the latter this time. “If that’s the case, I feel like I’ve really improved since your tutoring session.”

She kissed him again before she jumped out of bed and went to the wardrobe to find something comfortable to wear. Percy waited, just a moment, and thought about the question he would ask if he won. He would likely ask it when he lost as well, she would ask him what it was and he wouldn’t be able to hold back. He thought about his question and he watched her get ready. She had an energy to her that she had when she was making a deal or was showing off a little bit. She had a similar energy when she was watching him tear down someone they didn’t particularly like, like she was proud to call this rather pretentious man with a dry sense of humor and no small amount of arrogance hers.

After a moment of watching her he got up and followed suit. He didn’t really think he would win but he was incredibly curious about what she was going to ask him.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to give it his all, though.

It was about an hour before sunset when they finished setting up. Percy had gotten his own bow a while after he and Vex had practiced the first time. He trained with it mostly to understand it better, to give him ideas on arrows and think of ways to help her best. It didn’t hurt that he was the kind of man who liked to be good at things.

“Percy,” her voice was sugar sweet and her smile was incredibly charming, “good luck.”

“Vex’ahlia,” his tone utterly devout in his adoration, “don’t go easy on me.”

“Never, darling,” she answered and turned her attention to the target.

She blew him away, there was no helping it. She was an artist, he was a gunslinger.

Vex still missed her fair amount of shots though. It wasn’t her fault. Percy’s jawline was sharp, his eyes focused and icy when they settled on the target, his long fingers and the angles of his body were graceful and powerful with a bow, and she couldn’t be blamed that there were moments where he was so incredibly perfect, so distracting, so beautiful and strong, and with a bow in his hand she could think of nothing other than how he was _hers_ and it was only natural that she would look at him a little too long or think of him a little too much rather than focus on her own shots.

Percy wasn’t doing nearly as well when he practiced alone either, and he couldn’t be blamed. In battle he didn’t have the chance to really look at her. The stakes weren’t life or death this time and he wasn’t going to pass up his chance to fall a little more in love with her.

There was something hypnotizing about Vex’s calm strength, the slow draw of the bow, the deep breaths she took, the sheer focus she could have when she wanted something. And it was this angle that showed the hard lines of her profile the best. And she had rolled her sleeves up, so now he could see the muscle there in action. Who would blame Percy for losing his very breath when she was so close to him, it was like being unable to look away from the sun.

When Vex felt comfortable with the knowledge she would win she set her bow against a tree and walked over to where Percy was nocking another arrow. She stood close to him and examined his form. She raised his arm slightly, tapped his foot with hers, and lay a hand on his chest to feel his heartbeat again.

A smirk touched his lips as he let her manhandle him into position, “This isn’t sabotage is it?”

Vex moved around so she was behind him, finished adjusting him. And, because she could, she pressed his cheek against his back, let her hands rest lightly on his hips, and soaked him in for a moment longer. “All I want, Percy, is to see you at your best.”

When Vex stepped back he exhaled and released the arrow. A perfect shot.

When he lowered his bow Vex was there, her front pressed against his back and her arms wrapped around his middle, her cheek pressed against him more firmly this time. “If you’d been shooting like that this whole time you might have won.”

He smiled and leaned back into her touch, “Does that mean I’ve lost?”

“It’s sunset,” she answered. Percy glanced up to see the red-orange sky, and the shadows had indeed grown and darkened. “I thought this would be a nice time to finish.”

“Are you going to ask me your question, then?”

Vex’s grip around him tightened, just for a moment, before she let go and stepped away. “Percy,” she whispered and he could catch the slight tremble, the small hesitation. He turned in what felt like slow motion to see Vex kneeling on the forest floor with a nervous kind of smile, “Lord Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III, will you marry me?”

He blinked and time seemed to stretch on forever while Vex waited for an answer. She wondered if she shouldn’t have asked at all. She had only thought about it a few hours earlier. She had been lying on his chest and feeling his heartbeat and it was a simple thought, _I want to feel this heart for the rest of my life_ , and so she had decided to ask him to marry her. And perhaps it wasn’t enough, perhaps she should have talked about it with him or maybe she should have thought about it more, maybe she should have planned it or asked Cassandra or maybe she just should have waited. Maybe he didn’t—

Percy laughed. He filled the forest with the sound and he dropped to his knees with her, not even bothering to care about ruining his pants, and he took her hands in his. “Do you want to know what I was going to ask you?” He had that grin that she loved, the one that dared her to ask him for more.

“You’re supposed to answer my question, darling,” she said it lightly and with a smile but her heart was racing and she was doubting her decision, or more accurately her timing.

Percy pressed on, “I was going to ask you, Vex’ahlia, my heart and my soul and my savior and the woman I love, if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Neither one said yes, just like how for the longest time neither one had said ‘I love you’. There are some things that are simply known, that don’t need the words, things where words simply are not enough.

Instead of saying yes, instead of answering the question with a word that simply wouldn’t cut it, Vex kissed him. And Percy pulled her down to the ground with him and between the two of them was Vex’s hand, pressed firmly over his heart to feel it pounding away, like it was trying to escape the cage of his chest to get to her.

And so they were engaged, in their own way, without much of a plan or many words spoken. With arrows momentarily forgotten in their targets, bows cast to the side, and the sun setting over Whitestone, the two held each other close and told each other how much they loved one another without ever once saying “I love you.”


	2. The Next Grand Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two years after Vecna, Percy challenges Vex to a little sparring match, the winner gets to ask an important question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2imposters on Twitter made a post a while ago about Percy fencing and it made me think about the first chapter of this fic which inspired this one. Also, extremely good art in case you didn't already know.  
> I tried to write this with a similar style to the first one but I haven't done too much writing lately so I'm rusty, hope you like it anyways.

It had been over two years since they defeated Vecna. Percy and Vex had settled into their new lives in Whitestone but eventually they were ready to take on another grand adventure.

When Percy realized he was ready to start a new part of his life he was standing in the doorway of the library and Vex was standing on her toes and stretching her arm up to reach a book just out of her reach. He had seen her like this before, Vex always loved the library and somehow the books she wanted were always just out of reach. Technically this was not a special moment, it was not something new or different that changed Percy’s world, it was simply overwhelming love for his wife.

As always, he strode across the room and stood behind her to reach up and grab the book. And like always she leaned back into him and tilted her head up to smile at him and he was blown away by her presence all over again. And it took every ounce of self-control to simply kiss her forehead and hand the book to her before finding one for himself.

When Vex realized what she wanted she was standing at the edge of the garden. Shortly after things had calmed down enough for Percy to find some spare time in his days, he started a small rose garden outside the house. She hadn’t pressured him for a reason, but she knew how it felt to make something grow when you felt like your hands weren’t good for much more than killing.

Percy was kneeling in the dirt with his white shirt rolled up to his elbows and his hands were dirty and his brow was damp with sweat. When he heard her coming he looked up and his smile was gentle and sweet and his striking blue eyes were filled with love and when he started talking about how his roses were doing…well she fell in love with him for the sixth time that day and she didn’t feel a drop of fear in her new realization.

After handling some official business they met in their room again before dinner. While they were talking about their day, they were both wondering how they could possibly say what was on their mind. And then Percy remembered how she had asked him to marry her. And a grin crossed his face when poured them both a glass of wine he said, “I have a proposition.”

“Do tell,” she answered and took her glass when he finished.

“You’ve become quite the swordswoman,” he said proudly.

Vex and Percy were not good at retirement. They had been heroes before and that lifestyle left its mark. For a long time they had both woken to any sound in the night, reaching for weapons and searching shadowy corners of the room. They wore their armor everywhere for nearly a year. They waited for someone to come after them, to destroy everything, more dragons or would-be gods or even just a hellish creature come to bother them.

When people brought up their new lives they would smile and nod politely. And when others said “if anyone deserves a simple life, it’s you” or “you’ve earned your early retirement” they would humbly agree and talk at an acceptable length about how lovely it had been. They would tell stories with fondness but were careful not to show visiting dignitaries how their fingers itched to go back to _doing_ something. They made sure that nobody noticed how they never sat with their backs to the door and how they analyzed every room they walked into with the mind of people who had been in danger a little too often.

But that was in the beginning. It had taken time and work but they eventually found comfort and happiness in their new, quieter lives. They weren’t built to just be Lord and Lady de Rolo, they needed more action than that, but they enjoyed finding something between saviors of the world and boring nobles.

They took on small adventures, sometimes with others from Vox Machina, finding lost kids and relics and doing things that needed doing but probably didn’t need to be done Champions and Almost-God killers. And they hunted in the Parchwood still. And they had a garden. And in the same way that Vex taught Percy archery he taught her sword fighting.

They had started in their early retirement while they desperately tried to adapt to a new way of life without losing their minds. They had enjoyed it immensely, at first because it made them feel productive and like they would be ready when the other shoe finally dropped, but also because it was just fun. Vex had the mind for it, she was smart and her instincts were good and she liked to compete with Percy. She had gotten much better at it than Percy had ever gotten at archery (Vex believed that was because he got too distracted from watching her. She was right.) As time went on it became an actual hobby and not just preparation for another world ending disaster.

Vex smiled and said, “My teacher will be so happy to hear that.”

He chuckled and shook his head, “Yes, well I was wondering if you wanted to spar. We could make it more interesting this time, if you like.”

“I should be happy that I hold the purse, darling, you seem to enjoy taking bets you know you won’t win,” she teased him lightly but she was already excited. They liked to compete, to play, to build off each other like this. They pushed each other and Vex loved it. But what good was competition without a tiny bit of trash talk?

“The last time we made a bet on who was better at a particular fighting style we offered up a question. I believe it is only fair that we keep the reward the same.”

“Do you have something you want to ask me, Percy?” She arched her eyebrow and her lips quirked up into a smirk.

Percy’s smile was more of a challenge than anything else, _Play the game and find out._ “Would you like to play for something else instead?”

She was absolutely sure that if she changed the bet Percy would hold onto his secret question for at least three days before she weaseled it out of him. If she agreed he would tell her tonight, win or lose. Besides, she liked playing games with Percy and she found that there was a question she wanted to ask too. “What lovely timing, I have something I wanted to ask you.”

Percy’s eyes lit up, likely trying to guess at what she was thinking. She lifted her chin and mimicked locking her lips. “Well now I’m intrigued.”

“We should get going, then, I would hate to make you wait any longer to admit defeat.” She cupped his cheek, brushing her thumb against the stubble that was starting to come in. For the eleventh time that day she was shocked to learn that there could be so much love in the entire world, let alone in just her heart.

Percy leaned into her touch. He closed his eyes and a quiet sigh escaped his lips before he said, “I wouldn’t be so sure of that, I hear I’m rather good myself.”

“Well then, darling, why don’t you show me how good you are with your sword.”

Percy cracked an eye open to see her wink. “You’re incorrigible.”

“I beg to differ; you encourage me all the time.” Percy’s groan at her attempt at word play was cut off by her lips covering his. “Maybe we can encourage each other before we go play with real swords,” she whispered into his ear, her fingers already toying with the first button on the topmost layer of his infuriating clothes.

Percy had to take two deep, calming breaths before he could even answer. “Perhaps we could add that into the bet instead. I have a feeling I’ll need to be at my best when we spar.”

“Then let’s definitely stop wasting time. Now I have two reasons to win.”

“I don’t know,” Percy kissed her, he was not known for his restraint, “sometimes it’s nice to lose.”

“I’m not going easy on you,” she warned him.

“I would never ask you to,” he answered.

 

They had gone back to the clearing where Vex had taught Percy how to use a bow and arrow and where Percy had lost the last time they wagered a question. The place they got engaged. He said it was fitting they test their combat skills out there once more. Vex found it fitting for reasons more related to her own question, but she didn’t say anything yet.

Vex swung the blade in front of her a handful of times. She had considered ways she would distract Percy, even undid the laces at the collar of her shirt, but she didn’t go any farther. She wanted to win; it would be more satisfying to do so without any tricks.

Percy was warming up on the other side of the clearing He was taking it as seriously as Vex was, which was what made him so damned distracting. He was in his waistcoat and a pale gray shirt with the top buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up. He looked focused on his practice swings, his brow furrowed and his movements were precise and careful. Vex had the urge to walk up to him and kiss him or press her hand to his chest to feel the steady beating of his heart or to simply card her fingers through his hair and turn his attention back to her.

“Whenever you’re ready, darling,” she called out to him.

His lips turned up into a smile and he looked back to her, “Dear, I hope there are no hard feelings when I win.”

“You’re so confident, I’d hate to see what’ll happen when you lose. You can still back out, I’ll even let you ask me your question if you do.” She tucked a lock of stray hair behind her ear and stepped forward to meet him in the middle.

Percy stepped towards her and settled into his fighting stance, “I think you married me knowing I was not the kind of man to surrender so easily.”

Vex adopted her own stance, “I love seeing you at your best.”

Vex moved first.

There was no slow build, no teasing swings or cunning moves to trip the other up. They were both intent on winning, their relationship was more of a no holds barred kind of attitude. They would be gentle after, healing bruises and pressing soft kisses to tender flesh, but for the moment they both wanted to win and they both wanted their lover to put up a good fight.

Of course they were both so easily distracted when it came to their spouse. Their match took a turn like it often did. It started when Vex winked at him. A dirty trick, he thought when his heart jumped into his throat and he hesitated. Vex, of course, capitalized on it, giving him a good smack on the arm with the flat of her blade.

He wanted to tell her that he loved her, that she was beautiful, that she was clever and strong and that he was excited to spend the rest of his life at her side. He waited though, instead he grinned and turned his focus to their little competition.

Percy didn’t falter terribly after that. He was still full to bursting with his love, but it only seemed to spur him forward and made his focus that much sharper. He was determined to win this time. Vex wanted to win just as badly, she didn’t like to lose, but she was facing her husband who was incredibly attractive and focused and now damp with sweat from his efforts. Her husband worked hard, it was her favorite quality about him. It was also his hottest quality.

She had a particular fondness for the look in his eyes when he wanted something. And for his hands when he put them to work. And of course she loved the way the corner of his lips turned when he encountered a problem that he needed to figure out. His unyielding resolve was her favorite thing about him.

Perhaps it was just the kind of day she had that made her mind drift from her mission. Perhaps it was that her mind was filled with other things, most of them about how much she loved him and how proud of him she was. She had always been proud of him but Percy had become a man he was proud of as well.

Her heart was in the competition, in playing this game with her husband, of course she wanted to win, but it wasn’t her fault that she couldn’t focus with her mind full of Percy and the question she wanted to ask him. She almost blurted it out anyways, she was almost tired of waiting. And then Percy countered her attack and cast her a devilish grin. _I’m winning_ , it said, _catch me if you can_. And Vex couldn’t help but smile back. She couldn’t believe that for a moment she had almost let him win so easily.

The fight didn’t go on much longer despite how badly they both wanted to win. And in the end they weren’t very surprised by the results. After all, Percy had been learned many years ago and kept up with his lessons and Vex didn’t have much spare time to practice.

At the end Vex’s sword lay on the ground at the base of a tree. He had knocked it from her grip and it had been over just like that.

But they had admired each other for long enough and Percy dropped his sword immediately to take her face in his hands and kiss her. They were both breathing hard and damp with sweat from their efforts, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered outside of their kiss. They poured everything from their day into it. They poured everything from every day they had know each other, admired each other, loved each other, into this kiss. And when they finally stopped Percy pressed his forehead against Vex’s and closed his eyes.

“Percy,” she said quietly, “You said you had a question for me?” She slid her hands down his arms and laced their fingers together and closed her eyes too to soak in the moment.

“I do,” Percy felt a strange calm settle over him. He thought he would feel nervous or jittery in some way, but he felt…like this was simply the next step, the next piece of his life, the next thing that he was ready for. “Vex’ahlia,” his voice was soft and gentle, “Would you like to start a family with me?”

Vex felt the slight tension in her shoulders disappear and she draped her arms over Percy’s shoulders, “Funny,” she said and leaned her head back to look up at him, “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't really talk about it here, but I'm thinking about doing a thing for early access to fic and maybe exclusive fic and uhhh, stuff like that. I'll probably talk about it more on my own Twitter (inadistantworld) so if that's something that interests you I guess?


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